I wonder if you could put Loctite on the adjuster, or would that not work?

 

Negative. Wouldn't work for that device.

 

Just got back from a spirited canyon ride, and the odometer says it's been about 100 miles since I last adjusted the tensioner. It's still quiet, but it appears to have backed off slightly already. The photo shows how much it's backed out after 100 miles. There's a bit of parallax error in the picture, and please excuse my poor illustration. The small scribe mark on the aluminum is at about the 11 o'clock position. The adjuster has backed off from 11 to about 9:30. Will keep tabs on its progress.

 

Just got back from a spirited canyon ride, and the odometer says it's been about 100 miles since I last adjusted the tensioner. It's still quiet, but it appears to have backed off slightly already. The photo shows how much it's backed out after 100 miles. There's a bit of parallax error in the picture, and please excuse my poor illustration. The small scribe mark on the aluminum is at about the 11 o'clock position. The adjuster has backed off from 11 to about 9:30. Will keep tabs on its progress.

View attachment 1979

looks like the long 'lock bolt' trick can work. if you get a longer bolt and nut with the same thread diameter and pitch as the tensioner cap bolt, and turn it in until it touches the back of the tensioner rod, then lock the bolt in place with the nut, it will prevent the rod from backing out.

the question is if a bolt short enough to actually fit between the tensioner body and frame will be long enough to touch the tensioner rod when turned in.

 

Hello, I'm new here and from Canada, eh

I'm thinking of buying an FZ09, but this cam chain tensioner issue is turning me off a little. If I understand correctly Yamaha will replace it, but with the same defective part as before. And it can be fixed with a 1/2 or so, but it backs off within a new hundred miles. It sounds to me that Yamaha will have to issue a service recall on this, but with a new CCT that actually fixes the issue.

 

Exactly, you are on the right track. Mine isn't acting up, but I really should be proactive. I would rather do one with my existing unit than get an aftermarket item. Get em' Travis.

 

Alright. Last night I took a couple more 5-10 mile runs on the bike until it started the BBs-in-a-can rattle at 4k. Checked the position of the adjuster this morning and it had backed off about a half turn again. Sorry, no pictures; the marks rotated out of view anyway. So I set the adjuster back to where it should be, and dug through my bin of assorted nuts, bolts, and screws and came up with this to start with. If it holds, then I'll order a prettier set screw, 'cuz this is pretty darn ugly. Let's just see if it works.

 

Not sure if anyone else recommended this, but couldn't the non-permanent lock-tight be used to stop it from backing off?

 

Possibly, but I'd prefer a jam nut since it'd be easier to deal with in case it had to come out.

 

Just did another 100 mile canyon run, and the Fugly Screw seems to be working perfectly so far.
I'm going down to the local Home Desperate to check the thread size of that screw so I can order a nice clean allen set screw from McMaster Carr.
Should look like an APE pro manual when it's done.

 

Just did another 100 mile canyon run, and the Fugly Screw seems to be working perfectly so far.
I'm going down to the local Home Desperate to check the thread size of that screw so I can order a nice clean allen set screw from McMaster Carr.
Should look like an APE pro manual when it's done.

View attachment 1991

Travis you should get a reward for all this work you are doing. Really compelling stuff...thanks.

 

Guess what Home Depot had for $1? That's right, metric set screws! Took out the Fugly Screw, and the adjuster hadn't budged at all. Fantastic!!

When I installed the set screw, it's just a little bit more than finger tight. I imagine that pressure keeps it from vibrating and backing out. The jam nut is gently torqued to an appropriate amount. Not too much as to mangle the aluminum threads, and enough to keep the nut from vibrating off. Also, I am not using a lock washer, just the regular flat one between nut and aluminum tensioner surface. A nylock type nut would probably be better than the one I have on there.

I picked up some 25mm set screws in case it needs to be tightened up in the future some time. The 20mm one is pretty much flush with the jam nut now.

Looks pretty clean now.

 

Guess what Home Depot had for $1? That's right, metric set screws! Took out the Fugly Screw, and the adjuster hadn't budged at all. Fantastic!!

nice job travis. this is a good standby solution for those waiting for manual tensioners, or a permanent solution for those who prefer not to mess with manual tensioner adjustment but still want peace of mind.

 

Looks really good Travis. Went to my HD and Lowes with no luck finding a set screw the right size. Best I could find was a fugly Philips like you had in your first pic. So far so good though, rattle hasn't reappeared yet.

 

This is great work guys. I haven't had this problem yet but thanks for figuring it out!

Daniel.


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I have this tick at 3900 to 4100 RPM. Is there a way for me to easily adjust my cam chain and apply the trick Travis has done?

If theres no damage to the internal engine, I really want to skip messing about with the dealer adjusting and replacing parts until Yamaha has a permanent solution in place.

 

Thanks for the write-up Zloikish. Very terse, that is all we needed.

 

Terse in a good way or a rude way? Sorry it's difficult to tell exactly what people mean on here.

Not much more to it than this. Just take out the cover screw and adjust the tension screw inside to where the rattle is gone. Once that's set instead of putting the cover screw back on put your longer screw and lock nut on there. For the longer screw you only need to get it finger tight, so that's up against the tension screw, then go ahead and wrench down the lock nut to keep it all in place.

Edit: By the way to adjust the tension screw inside you need a 3mm allen wrench and make sure you don't over tighten it. Also screw size for the replacement is M6 x 1.0 with a length of either 20mm or 25mm.

Thanks! So nothing but the cover screw gets replaced, and nothing gets wrenched down more than necessary.

 

So my bike must have heard that I was going to dig into it, because today the noise is completely gone...

 

Yep, sounds about right. On mine, if I rode it for 30 minutes on the freeway at a constant rpm, it'd quiet right down. As soon as I was back in town, on and off the gas, it'd start rattling.

Just pop a lock screw onto it while it's quiet, or adjust the adjuster til it's quiet then pop the lock screw into it.

 

wow this thread is still going anyway mine never makes that noise really anymore haha it might do it once a week but its usually for a few seconds then it goes away i just hit 5k miles so maybe i broke it in or something haha now it works fine but it did all the same things people have been saying would make horrible noise mostly around 4k rmp would go on off whild i was riding whithin seconds of eachother and would go off somethimes when i punched it but for the last month , month and a half its been totally fine maybe i just got lucky

 

I did a modified version of the set screw technique. I wanted it to be completely hand tightened to avoid damage.

So now it has a wing nut down there but it doesn't look bad. I had to shorten the screw and modify the head to make it fit perfectly. The rattle is gone except around 4k when I'm on it I hear a quick rattle that goes away. But the constant clatter I had this morning is completely gone.

Oh and I rode for about 200 miles today with no relapse. 1300 miles on the bike!

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The rattle is gone except around 4k when I'm on it I hear a quick rattle that goes away. But the constant clatter I had this morning is completely gone.

Good to hear it's working for you!
Give the adjuster 1/8 to 1/4 turn more and lock it back down. It shouldn't rattle at all.

 

Thanks! I'll do that. I'm just worried I will damage something if I over tighten it. But it did have 1000 miles to loosen up. A little rattle is better than the constant clatter I heard before.


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I wonder when Yamaha will issue a recall on this part and replace it with a permanent solution.

 

My guess is that it will be in the winter, sometime...you know, "When h€ll freezes over!

 

I wouldn't hold your breath on Yamaha fixing it soon. First, they have to get enough data to prove there is a problem. Then, they have to develop a fix. Then, the real fun happens with making the fix happen (logistics, etc.). The Super Tenere had a questionable clutch basket for a few years. Lo and behold, no recall or TSB...but the new 2014 models supposedly addressed the clutch. So, 'we' might not get the fix anytime soon.

Of course, I'd love to eat crow on this.

 

It's a cheap fix, I spent a little over 5 bucks since I got a stainless part. But I'm sure there are cheaper ways.


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I'm with Travis, a cam chain shouldn't rattle at all if the tensioner is automatically doing it's job or manually set correctly, you shouldn't be content with a little rattle once in a while or until it warms up. If it goes away when the bike warms up, then it's probably just barely loose and the heat expansion of cylinder and head takes up the chain play. I hope Yamaha comes out with a fix but why wait when Tavis has shown you what can be done for cheap. Personally, I would go with a manual tensioner as in some cases auto tensioners are pressumed to cause premature cam chain wear, I can't prove this but I know hundreds of us DRZ riders changed to manual tensioners on experience gained by Eddie Sisneros on the ThumperTalk forum. A manual tensioner is also one more thing that can't go wrong mechanically...just my thoughts...Mark

 

I wonder what the percentage is on defective cam chain tensioners. Are all FZ09 bikes affected? You would imagine that's the case since they're using the same CCT for all the bikes.

 

The plot thickens. The service manager just emailed me saying, "Yamaha has asked us to install a new cam chain tensioner in your bike. The part number for this new tensioner is different from what we have previously installed."

How about that?!

 

I'm shocked they already have this sorted. Literally - shocked.

 

Travis, if there is any way to post the original part number vs. the new part number, that would certainly be helpful for those of us trying to accomplish the same thing.
Thanks

 

I've requested the part numbers from Alexander, son of Malcolm. He's been accommodating with information so far.

 

Hopefully they have an idea what is wrong and not just throwing stuff against the wall to see what sticks lol.



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Travis.........I added those part numbers into the Misc. Info thread for FZ Maint. Thanks again for the numbers.